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Republicans on the Senate Business, Labor and Technology Committee Monday defeated a bill with a party-line 5-4 vote that would have protected patients from unexpectedly high, uncovered bills from doctors. Bill opponents said it would give insurance companies unfair leverage in negotiations with health care providers. (6/18)

The Iowa Supreme Court is expected to rule whether a state medical board overstepped its authority by requiring doctors to be in the room when a woman receives abortion-inducing medication rather than allowing it to be administered remotely via video conferencing. The court indicated on its website that it would issue an opinion Friday in Planned Parenthood of the Heartland's lawsuit against the Iowa Board of Medicine. An opinion that effectively supports the board's restrictions could have big implications for women who live far from Iowa's clinics that provide abortion services, which are all in bigger cities. (Rodriguez, 6/18)

Iowa's Supreme Court is to decide Friday whether to shut down Planned Parenthood of the Heartland's controversial telemedicine-abortion system. The case, which is being watched nationally, is believed to be the Iowa court's first direct consideration of an abortion issue in more than 40 years. More than 7,200 Iowa women have used the system to obtain abortion-inducing pills since 2008. The first-in-the-nation system allows Planned Parenthood doctors in Des Moines or Iowa City to interact via video with patients in outlying clinics, then dispense the pills to the women. (Leys, 6/18)

A troubled Massachusetts managed-care program for low-income people who are dually eligible for Medicaid and Medicare will continue despite one of its leading plans dropping out of the program. Nearly two years ago, Massachusetts became the first state to enter into an agreement with the CMS to offer dual-eligible beneficiaries coverage plans that combined Medicaid and Medicare benefits into one plan to better coordinate their care. Enrollment in the so-called One Care program began Oct. 1, 2013. Participation is optional, but beneficiaries must explicitly opt out. (Dickson, 6/18)

Citing higher drug prices, the California Public Employees' Retirement System said its HMO premiums are rising by 7.2% next year. Rates for PPO, or preferred provider organization, plans are going up even more at 10.8%, on average, for 2016. (Terhune, 6/18)

An attorney for the state of Tennessee told a federal appeals court Thursday that a court order is not needed to protect TennCare applicants because they are no longer being left in indefinite limbo. The state wants the court to dismiss on technical grounds a lawsuit filed last July by applicants for TennCare, the state's version of Medicaid. (Loller, 6/18)

A trio of deadly afflictions is ripping through a rural county in southern Indiana. More than 130 patients in Scott County, Ind., tested positive for HIV in less than a year, making the community of about 24,000 people the site of one of the worst outbreaks in decades. (Shepherd, 6/18)

To offset new taxes that have rankled business groups, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy proposed trimming up to 1.5 percent of discretionary spending in the new state budget. But the administration’s proposal shows the bulk of the cuts would be likely to fall on education, municipal aid, health care and social services. (Levin Becker and Phaneuf, 6/19)

A federal judge in Nashville has approved a $3 million settlement in a case brought by nurses for Guardian Home Care who said they were not properly being paid overtime. The nurses said Guardian violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Their attorneys said Guardian did so using a scheme that also is used at other health care companies. (Barchenger, 6/18)